Worth Living for
by 21fairylights
Summary: The war with sound is over, Sasuke is back and there seems to be peace in the ninja world. But there is trouble brewing in the underworld of and a powerful group of criminals will threaten everything.  Squeal to 'The problem with Revenge'


**Important Note please read! - Hello there everyone, now this is a new story and is a squeal to my other story 'The problem with Revenge' If you haven't read that one then please do otherwise you wont really get the story here. **

**I hope you enjoy! **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, Please support the official release (because it is awesome!) **

It started with a wedding.

The whole of the ninja community were buzzing with excitement about it. There were very rarely weddings and especially ones were the bride and groom were both ninjas. It was also a beautiful day with the sun out in full blaze and the trees in full bloom. The town smelled delicious as specially made sweets, dumplings, salty noodles, tangy meats and buttery soft fish dishes were being cooked and placed out for all too soon feast upon as soon as the ceremony was done. This wedding was also a very important one as it marked a very important event in the ninja community.

Oh yes the Kazekage's sister was to be married to a Konoha official and diplomat. This meant that there would be an official joining and bonding of two prosperous ninja villages, this type of thing had never actually been done before, people who had lovers that came from other villages normally left their old villages to join a new one as most ninja communities frowned upon it, disapproved and sometimes even out casted their own as being a traitor to their village. Now however times were changing it was no longer being seen as unacceptable, in fact it was now being seen as something of a positive, an advantageous alliance that the villages could draw on and use if ever any problem was to be encountered. The bonds between villages were deepening now into something more than just pretty words written on a scroll. And it was all down to the iron will and determination of one man who could turn even the most hostile and broken of people to see the light. Him and his friends who would follow him until the very end, fight with their lives to protect what he had created had helped change this world for the better. Indeed not 2 years ago were they fighting to keep the fragile new empire that thrived on peace and good will to all from crumbling under the bitter darkness that was the sound ninja village that had almost… almost taken one of their very own. But that was a different story and one, which everyone was pleased to say, ended with a happy ending.

The bride was staring at herself in the mirror, turning and twisting her body as she do so so to see herself from every angle possible. Her hair, which was usually pulled back into tight pony bunches, was now a free flow of natural tight curls loosely clipped back so her face would be perfectly framed. Her dress was satin silk that clung to her body and fish tailed out, with her back completely laced up tight. She looked incredible with her tan skin clashing so beautifully with the stunning white of the dress. Her bridesmaids all looked at her with awe and excitement each of them in an identical pale blue dress that flowed effortlessly to the floor, with a white satin bow that wrapped around the wait giving the dress a classic shape.

"Wow, Temari you look so beautiful," Hinata sighed, tilting her head to side with a serene look on her face.

"Yes you really do Tem," Sakura agreed, looking wistfully at the woman standing before the mirror in all her bridal glory wondering when it would be her turn.

"You saucy little minx, that's why you put us in these dresses! So you could look 10 times better than all of us!" Ino exclaimed with the rest of the girls rolling their eyes and giving her deadpan looks. Temari simply smirked slyly at her, before waving her hand nonchalantly.

"I don't know what you mean Ino; I think you guys look great,"

"Yeah Ino these dresses are beautiful," Tenten weighed in. They really were very pretty dresses, but no wear near as stunning as Temari's … but then again she was the bride.

"Are you kidding me? These dresses don't show any thigh at all!" Ino argued her point as the others giggled at her typical 'Inoness'.

"Have you ever considered Ino, that less is more?" Sakura asked giving her friend a little smirk. Ino smiled knowingly back at her.

"Oh honey, in my experience, less is never more," At this all the girls laughed at their little inside joke.

"Whilst we're on the subject of more being more, have you decided between my brother and Kiba yet?" Temari asked her eyebrow rose as if to challenge the other blonde bombshell. Ino went suddenly quiet and turned white.

"Oh Temari, you look so lovely! Here let me give you your bouquet," She said rather hastily and pushed a bunch of light blue and lilac flowers at her friend whilst the other girls held back fits of giggles. Temari laughed out loud giving her friend a little evil glint in her eye and then changed the subject onto just how fabulous she looked.

XxxxxxxxxxxX

The ceremony was beautiful, it was all out doors in the summer heat of Konoha, they would have done it in Suna but the sun there was much too offensive to be outside in for a long period of time and Temari had always wanted a summer wedding. The flower girls walked down first in their pretty little ice blue dresses with blue and lilac ribbons and bows in their hair and dresses. The bridesmaids walked down the aisle with their groomsmen counterparts who consisted of Gaara, Naruto, Kankaro and Choji being the best man. The girls walking down looking very pretty indeed, one dark haired man looked in complete awe as his beautiful pinked haired girlfriend of 2 years walked down the aisle, her hair up and tied with the same coloured ribbons as the flower girls had, her dress hung off her body making her look ethereal and Goddess like. A little boy next to him also looked in amusement at the dark haired man's reaction, knowing full well what was going through his mind right at this point in time.

The minister took his position as the bride entered and everyone stood up to see her in all her glory. Shikamaru took a deep breath as he saw her. Beautiful. Normally there would be a troublesome that would have come after this observation but right now there was nothing troublesome about this. He was going to marry the woman he loved most on this earth and who by some happy magical miracle loved him back. The two of them locked eyes with each other talking telepathically, expressing what they felt and thought through knowing looks alone. The minister began.

XxxxxxxxxX

"What a beautiful ceremony," People said; drinking a glass of champagne and taking bits a pieces of food of from the table it was laid out on. It had been beautiful, there had been tears and some funny moments were Temari had grabbed hold of Shikamaru and pulled him down before even the minister had finished proclaiming them husband and wife. Now it was getting late into the night and the stars were peeping out of the soft golden red sky as the sun lowered slowly, taking with it the brunt of the afternoon heat, leaving a soft cool summers night air. The fairy lights and lanterns were had been lit and they shone dimly, glowing like fireflies.

"I love weddings," Tenten sighed sitting down next to Sakura who was munching on some sweets looking out watching the Marko play catch and run with the other village children.

"Yeah so do I, especially if they're like this," Sakura remarked looking out fondly over the proceedings of people dancing, drinking and laughing. Times like these were precious, moments of complete bliss and peacefulness, as a ninja and a medical one at that, it didn't come very often.

"Gosh, we're all growing up aren't we?" Tenten observed. She was completely right Sakura thought, they were all growing up, in the last two years her life had changed completely, she was now with the man she had always loved and by some strange act of fate she had seemed to of adopted a child, giving her the family unit she had always secretly desired and hoped for.

"You have Sasuke and Marko, Naruto and Hinata are married and have a little one now, I'm moving in with Neji, Shika and Temari married…." Tenten shook her head in amused disbelief. All their lives had changed. Well… all apart from Ino who was still completely and stubbornly set on being single.

"All apart from Ino," Sakura mused.

"Why apart from me?" A shrill voice was heard as Ino plonked herself down next to Tenten with a glass of wine in her hands and her eyes alight with all the dancing she had just done.

"Everyone is growing up except you," Sakura said rather bluntly.

"Damn straight! You lot are all boring, come on let's get dancing!" She pulled the two girls with her leading them to the dance floor.

Some few meters away stood a group of males around the table which held the booze on it, quietly talking and observing the group of girls which had now been joined by Hinata and the bride herself Temari.

"So man, what's the plan now that Temi's finally made a decent man outta you?" Kankaro asked Shikamaru, who slowly sighed and put down his drink.

"I don't really know, we have the honeymoon but after that I'm working like crazy and of course so is Temi, we haven't even really decided where our permanent place of residence is yet…" The group all nodded in agreement at the comment about there being so much work. This world was slowly becoming peaceful step by step but the demand on body guards, drugs dealers a horrifyingly disturbing piece of intelligence talking of an underground group of dangerous rogue ninja calling themselves the Akatsuki had emerged from one of the other prominent ninja villages in the lightening country had been reported. This meant that everyone was being kept busy, those in important diplomat positions such as Shikamaru, Hinata and others were always travelling between countries. Specialist ninja such as Sakura, who was extremely well known throughout the whole of the ninja community and in fact most civilian towns and cities also had a lot of their plate, implementing new medical practices and constantly researching to improve and create new medicines. And then there were ninja like Neji, Sasuke and Kiba who all brought in the revenue of the highly dangerous missions, combating gangs and illegal weapon merchants.

Oh yes, everyone was very busy indeed.

"Well I guess we've got a lot of work ahead of us, making this world a better place," Neji said as the others murmured and drank.

"We'll get there guys! I promise you that, and then maybe baka here and can finally ask Sakura to marry him!" Naruto exclaimed throwing an arm around Sasuke, giving a cheeky smirking grin as he watched the dark haired man's face turn from white to red in 0. 5 seconds flat.

"Shut it dobe!" Sasuke shoved the annoying blonde off of him turning his face slightly as it hid his burning cheeks.

"Ah yeah Sasuke, Shika here managed to pop the question what's holding you back?" Kankaro weighed in looking over to the group of girls looking the pretty pink ninja up and down appreciatively.

"It's not like she's not one hot piece of ass, damn if I was with her I would get a ring around that finger so fast…. OUCH! The hell man!" Kankaro staggered back a little clutching his head slightly looking an alarmed at Sasuke, who had just hit him… very hard. He was getting annoyed not least by the fact that some other guy had been checking out HIS Sakura. Sasuke was never one to be overly protective, he trusted his girlfriend and knew that he could pack a punch much harder than he ever could and so was fairly safe in the knowledge that if any guy did try anything on her he would be swiftly dealt with. However sometimes he just didn't like it when guy's actively checked out and the proceeded to describe what they would do to HIS girlfriend. right. In. front. Of. Him.

"Stop checking out MY girlfriend you idiot," Sasuke warned.

"In all seriousness though Sasuke, why haven't you? You've lived together for two years now, you both look after Marko as if he was your own son, and really you're practically married anyway so what gives?" Choji asked, the group looked at Sasuke expectantly. The Uchiha gave an irritated 'hn' and pulled out a small velvet case and watched as his friends eyes got wider. Naruto excitedly grabbed it off him and opened it to reveal a beautiful, clear cut diamond encased delicately in an intricate work of woven white gold band.

"I just haven't found the right time yet," Sasuke said, grabbing the box off from Naruto glaring at him and stuffed it back into his pocket.

"Why haven't you asked her yet you baka! It's not like she's going to say no," Naruto chided his friend, knocking the back on his hand against his best friends head. Sasuke gave him an irritated glare as he rubbed his head.

"Because dobe I can't just ask her… It's got to be … you know…" Sasuke felt his cheeks burn up again and inwardly cursed the boisterous blonde for bringing the subject in the first place.

"Ha ha! No way, the Uchiha is trying to be romantic!" Kiba yet out a loud bark of a laugh and clutched his sides. The rest of the group also looked at Sasuke with amusement, Neji was even smirking his eyebrow was quirked upwards, a rare sight indeed and only ever reserved for those special moments were he was actually genuinely amused.

"Hn," Sasuke grunted with his usual response when he was finished with a conversation.

"Well baka, I'm actually pretty proud of you," Naruto said and placed a hand on his shoulder giving him one of those smiles. An actual genuine smile that only close friends ever gave each other, at this Sasuke gave a very small slight smile back.

Weddings honestly, always so emotional.

XxxxxxxxxxX

It was very late into the evening and many of the children were getting very tired indeed, Marko was feeling the effects of the evening, almost very early morning take over his body as sleep settled into his bones and body willing his lids to become heavy and close. The game he and the rest of his friends were playing had ceased and many of them were sitting around on the grass, or curled up against their parents coats falling asleep.

"I'm so sleepy," yawned Harou, a little dark haired girl with bright blue eyes and a ninja in training at the academy. The rest of the group nodded in agreement, most were too tired to carry on the conversation.

"How can grownups do it?" Asked Kai another academy child.

"No idea but I think I might just sleep here, it's a warm night," Lily, a girl whose parents ran a successful bar and were particularly well known among the ninja community.

Meanwhile Sakura was being spun around the dance floor by none other than Sasuke, who had given in and indulged her in her request for him to dance with her. He secretly would have done it anyway even without her very…. Um… persuasive motive. He always gave into her eventually the way her eyes lit up every time he said yes was all worth it in the end.

"That dress looks beautiful on you," He whispered in her ear as he pulled her close. She giggled quietly and blushed at how amazingly sexy his voice sounded and how even his voice could induce tiny little thrills of pleasure shoot up her spin and make her body tingle.

"Thank you, you don't look too bad yourself," she whispered back giving him a naughty little look that made him want to rip the God damn dress right off her. However as he spun her round he noticed in the dim lights of the lanterns and fairy lights a group of small children curled up. His eyes caught the distinct gleam of red hair and realised Marko was probably asleep. They would have to go home soon, he thought with a bit of a sigh. Having children did change your life drastically, even though Marko wasn't his actual flesh and blood, Sasuke had grown to love the boy as any father would love their children. He felt a bounty of protectiveness that parents got towards their children, the constant worry of something awful happening to them was a backdrop, hidden but never gone, in the back of the mind. Having a child also did restrict your freedom somewhat; you couldn't for example stay out till the late hours of the morning dancing away with your beautiful girlfriend unless you had a babysitter at home. And another thing Sasuke noticed was that they were always, always first priority, had Marko got everything he needed for school? He found he couldn't take certain missions because of his and Sakura's work timetables, one of them had to be home to look after him and honestly, he found that long missions just were not feasible anymore, regardless of how high up his ranking was as a ninja. He supposed his old self would be frustrated by this, itching to get away, annoyed by the fact that someone was holding him back from progressing, but honestly now Sasuke knew he had changed in his most fundamental ways. He was no longer anti-social and full of anger, in fact he quiet enjoyed people's company and the bonds, support and the overwhelming sense of security and fulfilment having a friends and a family gave him.

"I think we're going to have to go soon," He told Sakura, pointing at the sleeping boy over on the far left. She spun around and saw him sitting down, legs curled up behind him, his eyes closed. At this she gave a warm smile towards Sasuke and nodded her head.

"I think we might, poor boy, it is very late, no wonder he's falling asleep, do you want to get the coats and I'll go get Marko," She said, Sasuke nodded and walked off to find their coats over the bridal table. Sakura walked towards the sleeping little boy and gently picked him up, he was getting big now at eight years old, and it would be his ninth birthday this year too… she couldn't help but wonder where the time had gone.

"Hey there, wakey wakey, we're going home now, so you can sleep very soon okay?" She said in a very soft voice. Marko nodded sleepily and shut his eyes again; Sakura carried him over to where Sasuke was. He was standing with Temari and Shikamaru who were in a small group with some of the senior ninja, Kakashi, Genma and Anko.

"Hey guys we're going to head off now Marko has pretty much passed out asleep," Sasuke gestured over to the sleeping boy in Sakura's arms. Anko and Temari made a little cooing sound.

"Aww, bless!"

"It's been a great day; you guys have fun in your honeymoon!" Sakura exclaimed excitedly and passed Marko to Sasuke so she could give Temari one last hug.

"We will, take care and we will see you guys and little Marko when we get back," She said.

And with that the day was over and this mix match family went home quietly enjoying each other's company. Once they had got Marko to bed, the two adults lay in bed together, arms wrapped around one another in complete peaceful bliss.

"That was a beautiful wedding," Sakura sighed quietly.

"It was," Sasuke agreed, his fingers stroking and rubbing little circles around Sakura's shoulders, feeling how soft the skin was.

"Temari looked really beautiful, and the ceremony was just beautiful," She went on, remembering just how pretty and perfect everything had seemed to be.

"You were prettier," Was all he said and she felt her cheeks flush a pink colour at his comment. His body then shifted slightly so he was looking straight at her, into those beautiful big emerald eyes.

"I love you," He said very simply and watched her lips spread into a dazzling smile that set her eyes alight.

"I love you too," She told him with her face beaming, feeling dizzying warmth spread through her when she saw his own lips curl into a smile, so stunningly beautiful she thought.

"Marry me," Her heart stopped for a few seconds but her pulse sored sky high as she looked straight at those mesmerising dark twinkling eyes.

"Okay," She said simply and let her head fall to his shoulder, feeling his hands on her cheek she looked up and felt the softness of his lips press down against hers.

"I have a ring… I was planning on asking you, there just never seemed like a perfect moment … I wanted to do it right," He struggled to convey his meaning of what he was feeling. That she deserved, after everything he had put her through, the best, most perfect ending ever.

"I think you chose the right time, you did it so beautifully just now," She assured him and moulded her body against his, he pulled her in tighter and they drifted off to sleep together.

And with his last conscious moments Sasuke realised that life as a ninja, war, fighting and death all came with the package of being a ninja, but actual life itself and all its little pleasures were something that was very rare and hard to come by in his chosen life. Suddenly he realised it wasn't about what you were prepared to fight or, or die for, it's what you were prepared to live for that counted.

**Right that's the first chapter, I liked writing it, please tell me what you think, constructive criticism is always welcomed and i do mean constructive please no being pointlessly rude or mean, that honestly gets people no where. **

**Love you guys! xx**

**Fairlylights **


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